2015: Trip #7 on the Fortune (2.5 Day)

10/2/15 - 10/3/15

Download the PDF here.

Scribe: Chris Lund

Club Members

Luke Berson

Paul Casillas

Mike Trunk

Chris Lund

George Miller

Bill Parks

Murphy Parks

Ron Shrout

Brian Wynne

Hayden Claisse

Mike Zinniker

Guests

Steve Rauch

Joe Gigante

Ichiro

Carl McKinley

Jim Chio

Eric Lund

Jack Proctor

Pre-Game

Hayden got things started by being the first to arrive at 1:30pm, beating out Brian W. by a narrow margin. Hayden likes his tackle box in just the right spot…more on that later. Everyone else followed for an 8:00pm departure, leaving us enough time to enjoy some food and beverages at Mitch’s. The Fortune was already docked, so we were able to load our gear as we arrived. With the help from the crew it was an easy task.

Before we hit the bait receiver everybody wanted to be ready to target the exotic wahoo that have been in our local waters. To be successful at this task, Luke wanted everyone to be on the same page. Luke did a great job at making sure that all anglers had at least one or two weapons to catch a wahoo via chrome jigs, wahoo bombs and wire leader hooks.

The boat arrived at the bait receiver around 8:00pm and loaded up on some quality sardines. We didn’t have any anchovies like we thought we might have, but the sardines were in good condition. While at the bait receiver captain Bruce gathered us at the bow for our game plan. Bruce wanted us to be ready for wahoo by trolling marauders and having our jigs and bombs ready for the kelp paddies. (Who would’ve thought we would be getting a wahoo 101 seminar from Captain Bruce on a 2 ½ day trip.) Bruce also covered how to fish the very popular flat fall jigs for the tuna that we’re likely to encounter at the kelp paddies.

The weather outside was unfavorable. Our first half game plan was to fish an area called the corner, 27 miles from Point Loma. Since we weren’t going too far that night we hung out in the comfortable confines of the harbor. It was a relaxing couple of hours while we ate, drank, and rigged up, all to the beat of the D.J. Mike Trunk. We left the harbor around midnight for a bumpy ride out to the corner.

1st Half

We got the first half kicked off at 6:00am. The first 3 trollers were rigged with marauders hoping to find wahoo while looking for kelp paddies. Not an easy task with 4 to 6 foot swells and the wind blowing 10 to 12 knots. I could go through all the clichés like, fish have tails, should have been here yesterday, It’s called fishing not catching. Bottom line is, after many trolling rotations, we didn’t find kelp with anyone home until 1:00pm.

We found two bigger size kelp paddies close to each other and all anglers got busy catching football size yellowfin tuna and smaller yellowtail. The final tally for this stop was 19 yft, 1 dorado. (the smaller yellowtail were released.) We looked around the same area for nothing. Then we returned later to these same paddies for 4 more yellowfin tuna. It was time to head for San Clemente Island where we would be anchored for night.

While Hayden was relaxing in the galley a couple crew members decided that his tackle box needed to be safe. So with every strap, bungee cord, and tie down on the boat, that tackle box would have survived a major hurricane.

After arriving at the island, with time running out in the first half, Paul C. took the jackpot with an 18lb yellowtail using a sardine on a dropper loop. It was a beautiful fall night at this off shore island for a decent pick at the calicos and a very tasty lasagna dinner.

2nd Half

With a break in the weather outside, we were off to the famous Tanner Bank. The anchor went down at 7:00am and it wasn’t too long before Eric and a couple others got things started with some yellowtail. Ichiro got one of the first bluefin of the morning. Using 20 to 25lb setups, we had a slow pick at the bluefin tuna throughout the day. Unfortunately, so did the hammerheads! They got several of the bluefin tuna as well as Luke’s better grade yellowfin tuna. The only silver lining to this was that it led to some delicious sushi and poke’ for the galley. Thank you chef Murphy! The flat fall jigs, yoyo jigs, and fly lined sardines all were successful for catching yellowtails. Most that were kept were a little bigger than rats with a lot being released.

Murphy decided to get some revenge on one of these pesky sharks. He rigged up with wire, a balloon and a chuck of tuna. After a 45 minute battle and some over and unders, the 300lb hammerhead was successfully brought to leader and cut loose. It was awesome to see the eyes on the side of the head staring back at us. We all called it a day at dusk and headed back to Point Loma. Total for the day was; 14 bluefin, 76 yellowtail and 1 hammerhead shark. Second day jackpot went to George Miller for his 25lb bft. A “Shrout” out to Ron for getting a real deal yellowtail!

With Haydens cocktail light glowing, it was time to head back to Point Loma. We had a nice downhill ride while enjoying a steak dinner with of course a few libations.

It was my pleasure to fish with the following members and guests.

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